Sabbath Bible Study

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(2018)

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Compiled by JS Lowther

ReNEWed COVENANT Ministry

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THE LORD’S SUPPER

Christian Pascha

Sacrament of the Faith of Jesus Christ

Part 3

Analogy of Biblical Reality

Id’ like to start out by stating that many learned men of the past and present will disagree with this message, and I already know that. So for those who are living, and may hear this message, please know that I am willing to defend the points prior made and those which will be made if it were asked of me, and if the position contained hereafter were to be poised against the ‘orthodox traditional christianism’, a.k.a. Easter Sunday, I would all the more enjoy the opportunity to have a Scripture for Scripture debate of the issue!

Peace in Christ, JS Lowther

Luk_23:33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

Luk 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Luk 23:35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.

Luk 23:36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,

Luk 23:37 And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.

Luk 23:38 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF JUDAH…

Luk 23:44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

Luk 23:45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

Luk 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

Luk 23:47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.

Luk 23:48 And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.

Luk 23:49 And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.

Luk 23:50 And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just:

Luk 23:51 (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.

Luk 23:52 This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.

Luk 23:53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.

Luk 23:54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.

Luk 23:55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.

Luk 23:56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

Here is the end of the Passover day on which our Lord was crucified, and his body lain in the garden tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea, a tomb that was not ever used and as such was not unclean by reason of a dead body, just food for thought.

Luk_24:1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

Luk 24:2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.

Luk 24:3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

And moving down in to the text we read in:

Luk 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

Luk 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Luk 24:48 And ye are witnesses of these things.

In typological way let us consider the type from which this day of Christ’s resurrection stands now as an antitype:

According to God’s Law the day of the wave sheaf as it is refered to in the Law:

Lev_23:10-11,Lev 23:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:

Lev 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

By the month this always the 16th day, by sabbath based week this is the 1st day, the day after the Sabbath, and the prior points are the case of every month based upon the moon; yet in this case of course it is a special case, because it is the first month of the year, the Month of Abib, and that this specific sabbath after Passover is the first day of Unleavened bread, the 15th day of the month, and the day prior being the 14th day and thus Passover Day, the day of Christ’s Death and burrial.

In the continuation of this antitypical observation, the Resurrection of our Lord is impressed as an antitype of the wave sheaf of barley, As the apostle Paul has conveyed.

Now after this great Passover of Christ’s passion there are few direct citations concerning the feast, this has lead some and many in our day to neglect what we have theretofore have mentioned concerning the Paschal observation according to God’s Law.

Yet when the reference is made to the Paschal Lamb and the feast of unleavened Bread it is made to a Church which knew the festival intimately and observed it’s ordinances; for when the feast of unleavened bread is used as an analogy the analogy would only bear force upon those who understood it’s laws and ordinances.

In other words, as we have seen from this type and anti-typical relationship of the Passover’s envelopment, it’s very immersion in the blood of Christ for the ages to come, and now the power of His resurrection on the day of the wave sheaf, final application of Paul to this point in 1Co_15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept., by such a working knowledge and understanding of the Law these sacraments which are celebrated year by year, according to the Law of Faith have a practical application beyond it’s literal practice, which flows over into spiritually moral applications. But one who reads only according to the Word’s of James the brother of our Lord

Jas_1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Jas 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

Jas 1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Jas_1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Jas 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Jas 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

Jas 1:24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

Jas 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Undoubtedly, some who hears use of this passage in reference to keeping the Paschal meal of communion according to the commandment will say “That is not speaking of keeping Passover at all, but of setting aside filthiness and the abundance of evil.”, yet I beg to the contrary of the happening of the application of the Law of the festivals by faith, and what affect it would have upon the Christian? It would be truly a God ordained analogy of the life of the disciple of Christ, that is the Christian, and I boldly say, the feasts of the LORD YHWH would be more effective than any man ordained festival could ever be by it’s very origin, that is from Scripture Alone!

Let us consider this exact teaching the Apostle Paul shows us, as

1Corinthians 5:7 is often the verse most Puffed Up to purport an apostolic prohibition of the Paschal Meal as revealed in Scripture.

This area is once again a subject of debate and confusion, yet it is not because of the lack of context, rather it is once again the over spiritulization of the Passover our Lord was crucified upon in preference to the Passover as taught by the Scriptures alone and observed by the Lord himself. Nevertheless, this out look and attitude is a very much needed part of the Christian Pascha, as it is intimately connected to the above verses of James, and this harmony of practical analogy used by Paul is of dire necessity in the House of God, his Church.

Let us expose the text and not ignore context. This discourse starts in the prior chapter when the words “puffed up” are used to discribe arogant men filled with spiritualizations of the way’s once held, of course “puffed up” Paul anologically takes to the next level of application.

Let’s consider:

1Co 5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

1Co 5:2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

1Co 5:3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,

1Co 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

1Co 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Now consider thus far, these people in the church of Corinth, have the fornication of incest being committed with in the church, and the church as a whole has not repented.

The anology:

1Co_5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

1Co 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

1Co 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Now, unless the season of Passover was at hand at the time of this epistles writing, the analogy is that an analogy using the feast of unleavened bread and the strictness by which leaven must be removed so that the unleavened bread is truly unleavened and not sour dough (remember there was no store bought yeast packages in these days, all leavening was sour dough).

1Co 5:9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:

1Co 5:10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.

1Co 5:11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

So even if this epistle was penned at Passover season, in no way is Paul relaying or deriving doctrine, rather he is using an analogy the Corinthian Christians knew, which was taught by the Scriptures, such as Exo_12:1, and Exo_13:1, which they MUST HAVE observed to understand the analogy, of treating fornicators, covetous, idolaters, railers, drunkards, or extortioners as leavened bread after Christ the antitypical Passover Lamb has been slain. In other words, Paul’s lesson has no bearing at all on the keeping of the feast, rather the feast which the Corinthians know how to keep is instructing them, on how to deal with such puffed up persons…Cast them out, and especial do not Commune with them, till they repent if it is possible. Moreover, if we this lesson has any thing to teach those who keep Passover and unleavened bread according to the rule of Faith as found in the Bible, and enveloped in the passion of Christ, it is that when we keep this Sacrament we should do so with brethren who are not puffed up in this way, but who are of sincerity and truth.

An in the same light after much discourse Paul again makes yet an applicable analogy, Paul had dealt with along the way in reference back to the issues is you would read from Chapter 5 till this point, all are applicable in the life of a christian as it pertains to the Paschal meal, yet the analogy is in the statement of judgment of ones self and of the church as the body of Christ is to be purged from the prior sinful attributes mentioned in Chapter 5.

1Co_10:14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

1Co 10:15 I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.

1Co 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

1Co 10:17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

And upon such sentiments the apostle goes further to say:

1Co_11:20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.

1Co 11:21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

1Co 11:22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

It is important to note that the ‘church of God’ is in reference as it always is, to the people of the Ecclesia, the congregation and not of a building with four walls. As folks often loose track of this fact here.

1Co_11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

1Co 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

1Co 11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

1Co 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

1Co 11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

1Co 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

1Co 11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

1Co 11:30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

1Co 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

1Co 11:33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.

The analogy for the Church as the body of Christ, represented in the bread of the Paschal meal, it if they are at the Lord’s Supper with the heart of Faith, yes on Passover, at the communion meal, but not in the literal form for if this were so the ‘eating in hast’ of Exodus 12 would seem unruly, yet all are to eat in haste together, helping one another and not being puffed up as we are to be unleavened in the Lord, as his body, yet not negligent of our good works and duties in the Lord as his body and as his bread.

The lesson Paul teaches these Corinthians which obviously kept the Passover very much as Exodus teaches, and how the disciples of our Lord continued to teach, or else these Corinthians would of had no knowledge of these biblical Law in relation to the Faith of Jesus Christ.

Rather Christians are the analogical bread of the body of Christ, just as Christ our Lord is the analogical Paschal Lamb, and as the Lamb is slain before the feast is began yet eaten on that following twilight at night with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, and with the cup of salvation and blessing, so is the church as a people to live out that analogy b the power of the Spirit which is only derived from a realistic and practical living of the feast it self.

This is the analogical message of the Paschal meal, as kept in the body and the blood of Christ by the Sacramental Elements which are prior directed in the Law of God, the elements which teach the analogical lesson rather than abrogate and rearrange the feast into an unidentifiable order and arrangement.